The present invention concerns a communication device for rail vehicle of the type comprising a wireless communication stage to communicate with a control beacon on at least one communication spectrum band of a spectral range sub-divided into several predetermined channels.
The invention applies to the field of rail safety and more particularly but not specifically to the safety of metropolitan transport.
Conventionally rail vehicles are equipped with a communication stage to communicate with control beacons arranged along the trackside. Such beacons allow the real-time control for example of railway traffic.
Communication between the beacons and the communication stage generally uses radiofrequency electromagnetic waves as support e.g. waves with a frequency in the 2400 MHz-2489.5 MHz band, or above 5 GHz. Said frequency ranges are not generally exclusively allocated and are freely used for example by mobile devices of the public at large, such as mobile telephones, pads or laptop computers.
The presence of such mobile devices in large number on board a rail vehicle, in particular close to the communication stage e.g. during rush hours may perturb and even interrupt communication between the communication stage and the control beacons. The conditions of safe travel are such that in the event of disruption of train-ground communications the rail vehicle must be immobilised. The perturbation of train-ground communication by terminals used by passengers therefore particularly has the effect of momentarily interrupting the travel of the rail vehicle, the consequence of which is to reduce the quality of service offered to users.